Monrovia Veterinarians Lose First Battle Against Pet Supply Industry's Top Dog

Monrovia's veterinarians and animal care workers crowded into city council chambers Tuesday night to speak out against the into town, a development they insist could put them out of business.

Though several vets inveighed against the plan to bring the retailer to the city, the City Council eventually cleared the way for PetSmart's venture into Monrovia to continue.

Several local animal doctors took the podium Tuesday and said that they are already struggling enough to maintain their small practices without another big dog in town to compete with.

"The current economic environment is putting great strain on veterinarians who are well established in this community," said Gary White, a veterinarian who owns Huntington Veterinary Hospital. "Adding a large corporate practice will do nothing to increase patient care or public service beyond what we already have."

The corporate chain--which boasts nearly 1,200 branches in North America--is attempting to open a pet supply store complete with boarding and veterinary services inside the old Circuit City building on Huntington Drive.

But the operators of Monrovia's numerous veterinary clinics , claiming that the chain would pose a competitive threat to their businesses and cause potential sanitation and noise problems.

White said PetSmart would bring low-paying jobs to town and likely force out local vets, some who've been in the community for as long as 60 years. The company would contribute to what he said is often referred to as "the Wal-Martization of America."

PetSmart representatives were also on hand to explain their plans and attempt to quell concerns from local animal doctors. Mike Mullin, a spokesman for the company, reiterated his assertion that PetSmart believes it can coexist with small vet clinics.

"We coexist very positively in areas around the country with vetinary services…," Mullin said. "There’s a lot of business for the pet industry."

Mullin touted the company's adoption programs, which he said have helped to find homes for more than 4.5 million pets since they began. As of last year, the company has donated more than $110 million to charity, he said.

But the motivation of the chain was clear to White and other veterinarians on hand, like Syvia Domotor, who runs Dr. Domotor's Animal House Veterinary Hospital.

"They’re really not cooperating with us, they’re competing with us," White said.

Domotor said local vets already run adoption programs and called PetSmart's adoption program "their claim to philanthropic fame." She said the average veterinary hospital in America already earns little to no profit.

"Most veterinarians are extremely pleased to be just meeting payroll, paying our bills, and trying to survive until the economy recovers," Domotor said. "Obviously small, privately owned businesses in such precarious circumstances as ours are not going to be able to compete with a corporate giant--the largest pet services supplier in the world."

City Council members expressed their sympathy for the vets and noted that they patronized them with their own pets but ultimately concluded that they did not have the authority to consider economic concerns when deciding whether to grant PetSmart a conditional use permit.

Still, several said that increased competition should not be a factor going forward in the approval process for PetSmart.

Councilman Tom Adams said he dislikes corporate chains but doesn't believe they should be barred from communities.

"I don’t know if we’re going to stop the world from growing into coroporate stores," Adams said. "Consumers ultimately get to decide all of this. I don’t know that we’re in a positon--at least not in a good positon--to say 'no' to this."

Mayor Mary Ann Lutz agreed.

"I don’t believe that it's government's right to say which businesses can and cannot compete," she said.

Following a final plea from two local doctors, the council denied the veterinarian's appeal and ordered a 6-month study of the noise impact PetSmart would have in the community.